Bonjour France! We arrived in Biarritz
without much knowledge of the town, like many towns in the trip. What we found
was a stunning coastal gem, with bright clean streets and pristine beaches.
There was a relaxed atmosphere in the town that reminded us of home as we
wandered the streets for the day just soaking it up in the beautiful village
before walking back to Kermit. We cooked and drank cheap sangria by the sea
before sleeping in a car park by the water with many other campers, an
unofficial campsite. The following morning we woke and walked into town again
to Biarritz food market hall, brimming with people purchasing the finest French
produce and delicatessen products. I would have to say French produce is the
best in the world! After strolling through the surf shops we walked along the
beach. The weather was flawless, blue skies and sunshine as far as the eye
could see, and the surf conditions perfect, so we hired a eight foot board and
surfed until the freezing water took hold and we decided to get some lunch. We
drove to a nearby Quicksilver Skate park, number 70 of the trip, and made epic
sandwiches before Matt skated. Late in the afternoon we drove to Bayonne and
walked through the winding cobbled stones laneways, although the town was quiet
and there were no campsites so we ventured back to our spot by the beach and stayed
another night.
The next morning we left Biarritz and headed along the coast to
Hossegor where we ate lunch at a delicious Japanese restaurant before exploring
the shops and beach. We caught up with an old friend of mine, Michelle
Connellan, it was so great to see a family face and hear a familiar accent so
far from home. We ate in town for dinner before heading back to the beach to
drink while the sun set into the night. We drove to a campsite in the nearby
town of Seignosse, and that is where things began to fall apart.
We turned off Kermit while waiting to check
in and then he wouldn’t start again. We had a flat battery and we were stuck
out the front on the street. We pushed Kermit to the side with the help of some
other campers and slept on the street for the night. Luckily (NOT) for us our phones were running
very low on battery, reception and credit so we rode our bikes into Seignosse
to recharge and call for help. A tow truck arrived after lunch and we bluffed
our way through a conversation with a French mechanic who spoke no English, who
told us the battery was just low and so he jump started the car and sent us on
our merry way ensuring that after about thirty kilometers it would recharge
itself. But wait there’s more! The saga continues!
We decided to drive toward
Bordeaux, only we didn’t have enough fuel, so while stopped at the service
station and of course the car wouldn’t start again. Luckily there was a service
center next door who was able to jump start Kermit AGAIN before informing us (in
quite good English) that our issue was actually the alternator that was
preventing the battery from charging as well as our leisure battery that powers
our refrigerator in the car.
He promised
us we would make it to Bordeaux and gave us the address for a Volkswagen
dealership and sent us on our not so merry way. So things starting looking up
and Bordeaux was in sight, until Kermit decided to die bit by bit, the
indicators, speedometer and brake lights didn’t have enough power to continue
and eventually neither did Kermit, cutting out on the French motorway.
Unfortunately, again, for us the French motorway is privately owned and our not
so trusty assistance company was unable to help us, so after a quick call to
the police, we had road workers directing traffic and a tow truck saving us
again. This time we were towed to a small town named Mios, where we waited for our
assistance to help us. Eventually, at some ridiculous hour in the evening, when
we were past the point of starvation, we were put in a hotel in Cestas nearby
and separated from Kermit. Little did we know we would be leaving Kermit for
some time at that point.
The following morning we were sent a taxi and we
headed into Bordeaux where we stayed and explored the streets and ate
incredible food while we waited for news. We stayed in the Ibis in town
courtesy of our assistance and prayed that Kermit’s issues weren’t too costly. At
first, we thought it would just be a day or two, eight days later Kermit was
finally ready to go again after thoroughly draining our wallets. We had spent a
week in a hotel, eating and drinking our way through Bordeaux, exploring the
public gardens and of course skate parks. It was great to actually spend some
time in a city and wander every back street finding new hidden treasures every
day. One night we stumbled upon a little English pub where we participated in a
trivia night, although our little team of two was no match for the trivia
buffs, we came in dead last but had a great time just drinking and meeting
people.
At the end of the eight days we were raring to go again and we headed
to Tours for the night. After a quick exploration of the city, we left Tours
and headed through the picturesque Loire valley filled with majestic Chateaux’s
and quaint towns. Through out the day we visited Amboise, Blois and Chambord
stopping to admire the incredible castles and discover the streets. Late in the
evening we arrived in Paris, where we pitched camp for the next few days.
Our first day in Paris was ‘tres magnifique!’ We disembarked the shuttle bus at Porte
Malliot and walked straight up to the Arc du Triomphe before continuing down
Avenue des Champs-Elysees (it’s a busy street!). We stopped in at Laduree, a decadent
patisserie shop that has been thriving since 1862, known to be the inventor of
the famed macaron. We spent a fortune purchasing eight delectable macarons
(well worth it) and a palmier that was to die for! After indulging in a sugar
feast we continued on our journey winding through the chic streets of Paris
stopping only momentarily for some lunch. We walked on and visited the Louvre
and wandered the stunning gardens until we were thoroughly exhausted. After a
week of cruising in Bordeaux and not sleeping in Kermit, our first day in Paris
was extremely tiring, so we packed in early venturing back to the campsite for
dinner.
Day two in Paris began early when we woke,
cooked up a hot breakfast before running to the bus and heading into the city.
We walked until we reached the spectacular Eiffel Tower. Still awe-inspiring
the second time around (for me), we spent a bit of the morning admiring the
masterpiece from every angle. We ambled on and visited the Museum d’Orsay
before finding an amazing little patisserie nearby. It was like an arty gallery
of precision cakes and tarts that looked too impeccable to eat. We bought a
‘saint horone’ a tart that felt more like a collection of eclairs and caramel
covered profiteroles all filled with sweet vanilla crème patisserie atop a
slice of crumbly puff. We found a small park nearby and devoured our tart
before continuing on our journey to Notre Dame. We took photos of the exquisite
church and admired the adjacent bridge brimming with locks of hopeful lovers.
We wandered the streets of the Latin Quarter finding a little creperie to enjoy
some lunch. The afternoon was spent at the Museum l’Orangerie where we perused
at works by Picasso, Renoir and Monet, I found the round rooms of Monet’s Lilly
pads to be truly astounding. We
eventually strolled back down the Champs Elysees and made our way back. After
dinner at the campsite, we headed out to a skate park where Matt skated into
the night.
Our final day in Paris was perfect. We
started the day late and caught the Metro to Montmartre where we wandered
aimlessly through the famous artist quarters enjoying the atmosphere. We
eventually decided on a place for a late lunch, eating at Frenchie’s a cool
restaurant in the center of Paris. We ventured through the streets collecting
cheeses, meats and bread from various fromageries and boulangeries to create
our picnic bag for the night. We walked along the river Seine and found a
cultural event with pop up bars, urban gardens and games where we hung out for
a while. Eventually we made our way back to the magnificent Eiffel Tower where
we picnicked as the sun went down and watched in awe as it lit up like a
colossal Christmas tree. Our proud moment of the night came when we haggled
with an Indian scam salesman who was selling “Champagne” for 25euros and we got
it down to 5euros. I’m sure my Dad would be proud of our hard bargaining
technique.
We drank our very cheap
Champagne and watched our final night in Paris float away like a magical dream.
Eventually we packed up and headed back to the campsite truly feeling grateful
for the last few days in a marvelous city.
The following day we left Paris
after a final visit to the Skate Park and headed to Epernay in the Champagne
region. We drove through the winding hills of vineyards until we finally
arrived at Avenue du Champagne, the Hollywood Boulevard of the Champagne world.
With all of the big names and historic champagne maisons to choose from, we
decided upon the “crème de la crème” of the tours at Moet and Chandon. A
one-hour tour through the remarkable 28km of underground champagne caves left
me truly speechless and of course thirsty, luckily a glass of Imperial Moet is
included at the end. Eventually it was time to leave Moet and Chandon, so we
headed into town for dinner before camping for the night by the
river.
We spent
the next day exploring the nearby town of Reims, the capital of the Champagne
Region before driving to Gines, just out of Calais to sleep the night. Our
final day on the road was spent in sunny Calais wandering down the beach and
marvelling at the stunning architecture before enjoying our final night of the
holiday cooking and drinking champagne by the water. What a truly spectacular
way of ending our six-month adventure. Tomorrow we drive back to London via the
Channel Tunnel and we begin another new adventure. There is so much more to
come!
